Talk:Robert Gates

Religion?

Any information on his religion? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.136.242.34 (talk) 22:38, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Vietnam Service?

What does "Battles/Wars: Vietnam War" mean in the sidebar? Mr. Gates official biography only says "In 1967 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and served as an intelligence officer at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri." This is certainly during the Vietnam War, but there is no indication that he had any connection whatever with the actual war. Does anyone who served in the military in any capacity whatsoever between 1965 and 1975 receive the "Battles/Wars: Vietnam War" expression? It seems to significantly reduce the meaning of the expression. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fideo (talk • contribs) 02:11, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

No one has commented since I made this observation. I'm going to remove the ,"Battles/Wars: Vietnam War" entry in the sidebar on the grounds that to merit this distinction, the person should have more of a connection than simply being in the military during the time a war is being conducted. Serving in-theater is an obvious qualification. Serving in some support capacity from a distance would possibly qualify, depending on circumstance. There is no indication that Mr. Gates had any connection at all with the Vietnam war, beyond being an Air Force Lieutenant in Missouri during the war. Fideo (talk) 01:37, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Unless someone has a reference for that point, I would support Fideo's removal. I have done a brief search and found uncitable sources alleging that Gates was not deployed to Vietnam, and no suggestion that he was. Anyone re-adding this point should do so only if they're able to cite a reference to actual service in the war, not merely during it. Abrazame (talk) 02:31, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

I would caution such removal (caution, not disagree). It was during the Vietnam War era and therein lies the distinction. Many people served supporting the war effort (even indirectly). As an intelligence officer at Whiteman, he was responsible for providing intelligence and information to B-52 squadrons. This intelligence directly contributed to the war effort. — BQZip01 — ^talk 09:03, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

If there's any relevancy to that war of his service, it would be most welcome in the article text if you or any editor or visitor are able to reliably source that. However, this was an infobox section entitled "Battles/Wars", the purpose of which is to indicate which battles and wars in which the person was actually a participant, as in "track his position", not "place the era".

That's not to take away from any role he may have had; indeed, contrasted to the way life goes on during our wars of the past 35 years, the support roles played by even the average American in previous war eras was massively greater than now before you even get to the draft, but if that's relevant to any individual's biography it should be sourced and specified, rather than hinted at or, I would argue, over-represented, given the infobox section. I have relatives who served during Vietnam and Korea, but they would be the last people who would want their service to be too closely associated with those wars given that the gist is to conflate their service with that of people whose lives and physical and emotional intactness were on the line in-country. In other words, removing the data point in this instance is not to diminish the honor of one's service during wartime but to preserve it. When someone's service stations them in a war zone or places them at a battle but there is no other detail that can be sourced, this infobox point is the only differentiation between them and the remote direct support role you raise. Abrazame (talk) 00:53, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

Ref for death of Uwe Barschel

http://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article11104929/Uwe-Barschel-der-Tote-in-Zimmer-317.html

Seems a bit lightweight to me. Hcobb (talk) 23:08, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

I see no evidence and it's the only source for such a charge. BTW, here's the english translation. Buffs (talk) 17:49, 29 September 2011 (UTC)